Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COMSATS)

CORONA and Sustainable Development

1.   Introduction

As the second pandemic of the 21st century relating to coronaviruses, the current outbreak of novel coronavirus named SARS-CoV-2 by World Health Organization (WHO) has taken the world by storm. From weighing heavily on global healthcare systems and economy, the COVID-19 pandemic has upended the social and economic fabric putting at stake global markets and supply chains let alone the mental and physical health of millions of people across the globe.

Irrespective of their economic standing in the world, all states are dealing with the nuisance of this pandemic either due to disease overburden, fragile healthcare systems, resources-constraints or lack of timely response to the crisis. Notwithstanding, while the North predominantly is bearing the brunt of this pandemic, the South remains susceptible to the viciousness of the disease and its aftermath due to struggling economies and weaker institutions. In the wake of this, United Nations Secretary General, António Guterres, has urged nations to work in an integrated and coordinated manner to help the vulnerable countries through financial and technical support.

The crisis has also shaken the timeline of United Nations 2030 Global Agenda unforeseeably. The world, which already was not fully on the track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals’ (SDGs) targets, is further derailed amid the pandemic as the resources and attention has been directed towards ousting the virus. This is a wakeup call for nations to reconsider their approaches and strategies and streamline efforts to accelerate progress towards green economy and digital solutions. Along the same vein, scientific tools and methods, innovative approaches, and (digital) technologies have become all the more imperative and indispensable to mitigate the impact and fall-outs of the pandemic on economy, environment and social security.

The race to develop medicines and vaccines to counter coronavirus started as early as January. More than 100 vaccines including 70 backed by WHO are in preclinical phase across the globe; whereas, eight vaccines in China, Germany, United Kingdom and United States, respectively, are undergoing clinical trials. Similarly, scientists across the globe are discovering and synthesizing new compounds with potential anti-viral properties to remediate COVID19 symptoms. COMSATS Member States, i.e., Pakistan and Turkey, have achieved fair progress in this regard. Most of developing countries, including COMSATS’ member states, face yet another unique challenge offering a number of problems and opportunities. Some news included in this page will provide a look at the same.

In addition, COMSATS’ Centres of Excellence have utilized been utilizing their respective strengths in fight against the pandemic to help safeguard their countries’ national interests, as seen from the relevant section of this page. From developing diagnostic and screening tests and designing cost-effective life support machines to manufacturing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and providing humanitarian services, these Centres in 20 countries are playing a pivotal role in the global fight against corona.

Intellectual content of this page also includes articles from COMSATS’ officials, interview(s) from relevant expert(s), and thematic articles from other sources. A look at Corona from sustainable development perspective has also been included among other things. It is hoped to serve as a good repository of information on the pedantic with respect to elements and entities relevant to COMSATS.

 

2.    Articles and Opinions

 

3.   News and Activity

 

4.   Corona and Sustainable Development

SDG17

SDG1, 2

SDG13

SDG2

SDG4

SDG6

SDG7

SDG8, 10

SDG15

SDG 3, 8, 17

SDG 16

 

5.   From the Member States

Bangladesh

China

Jordan

Pakistan

Egypt

Iran

Tunisia

Sri Lanka

Senegal

Morocco

Ghana

Kazakhstan

Turkey

Nigeria

 

 


6.   From the Centres of Excellence

Royal Scientific Society (RSS)

Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR)

Embrapa Agrobiologia

Al-Farabi Kazakh National University (KazNU)

International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS)

  • ICCBS, Pakistan, Corona Virus Related Initiatives
  • ICCBS: Dr. Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research Completes Genome Sequencing of Coronavirus from Local Patient
  • ICCBS: Dr. Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research Joins Hands with Indus Hospital to Boost COVID-19 Testing Capacity

Al-Quds University

Industrial Technology Institute (ITI)

The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK)


7.   Important links for data

China National Center for Bioinformation Novel Coronavirus National Science and Technology Resource Service System Covid Visualizer